It took a COVID-19 virus to show the importance and benefits of digital technology and applications across the entire manufacturing industry. The pandemic has forced many manufacturing enterprises to re-look and modify their business processes and workflows by adopting modern ERP technology. Nobody would have thought in their wildest dreams that ‘Work from Home’ which was normal for the Information Technology (IT) industry will become a necessity even for manufacturing enterprises.
‘Work from Home’ aside, enterprises are looking beyond conventional ERP applications and looking for ones that have the below capabilities,
- Cloud-capability and flexible installation
- Web-browser compatibility
- Mobility across devices
- Minimal-code customization
- Selective customization & upgrade
- Plug-and-play integration
- Advanced personalization
- Portal management for Customers and Suppliers
Let us go into a little bit of detail into each of these features and determine the benefits they bring to manufacturing enterprises.
Cloud Capability & Flexible Installation
Gone are the days when a legacy ERP software had to be installed on each computer through an .exe file. It was a time consuming process and required a team of IT experts to install and configure the software based on customer requirement.
Modern ERP software provides flexibility to be installed on manufacturing premises or on public or private cloud. Installing on the cloud means enterprises don’t have to worry about procuring & maintaining necessary servers and related hardware equipment, managing a team of IT experts that would cost them a lot of money. Also, the data sits on the cloud server with proper security measures in place.
In addition, they can always shift the ERP from on-premises to the cloud and vice versa based on their needs.
Benefits
- Install on-premise or cloud.
- Eliminates the need for servers, IT infrastructure and IT team.
- Reduces IT overhead and maintenance costs.
Browser Compatibility
Web browsers have become more advanced, quick and user-friendly, be it on any computing device. ERP software providers have realized its enormous advantage and have made it a primary medium for users to access the software. There is no longer a need for users to click on an .exe file to install the application on their computers and click the icon to open the software everytime. Just open any browser such as, Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox Mozilla or Safari, click on the ERP bookmark URL, login and access enterprise data. As simple as that.
Benefits
- Quick initiation of ERP software through browser.
- Access from any supported browser.
- Access ERP from anywhere, anytime.
- No requirement of .exe installation on devices.
Advanced Mobility across Devices
Browser compatibility means, ERP software providers have solved the most critical issue that manufacturing enterprises faced – Mobility. Accessing data on the move and updating critical data was a huge challenge, as ERP systems were limited to immobile workstations. Which meant, operators had to constantly move from their machines to workstations to access and update data, consuming a lot of unnecessary time and effort.
Browser compatibility meant that operators can access and update data from any hand-held device such as, smartphones, tablets and laptops. This meant supervisors and senior executives could operate from anywhere, be it their home, from client’s location and even from their vacation place. No wonder, this feature came as a huge bonus during COVID-19 pandemic as certain departments had to work from home and could access their ERP.
Benefits
- Access from any hand-held device such as, smartphones and tablets.
- Access ERP from anywhere, anytime.
- Improves operator speed and efficiency.
Development & Customization through Minimal-coding
Low code customization has become a mandatory requirement as manufacturers especially from the Small & Medium segment. They don’t have the resources and budget to hire extra developers, outsource customization to vendors in order to customize the ERP based on their needs. With this feature, using already existing IT resources, manufacturers can easily build custom-applications, configure workflows, processes and business-logic with minimum coding.
This reduces enormous time and effort required to customize a module or create a custom application. Also, enterprises can eliminate out-sourcing their requirement to developers and instead, easily manage their custom requirement through their existing IT personnel. This reduces their costs and efforts.
Benefits
- Reduce time and cost required to develop custom-applications, workflows and logic.
- Less development and maintenance costs.
- Eliminate the need to hire additional developers and IT personnel.
Selective Customization & Upgrade
Previously, manufacturers had to deal with a lot of issues when it came to customizing legacy ERP modules or features. Adding additional customization on a single feature or module would overwrite other existing customization done on other modules.
Modern ERP software allows selective customization & upgrade where a single module or functionality can be tweaked based on user requirement without over-writing existing customization of other modules/functionality. This reduces enormous time and cost required to re-do existing customizations erased by a new upgrade.
Benefits
- Customize select modules without over-writing other modules
- Reduce associated time and costs.
- Customize quickly and go-live immediately.
Plug and Play Integration
Modern ERP systems enable manufacturers to integrate external applications and internal tools within considerably less time. Plug and play integration system ensures that external manufacturing applications pertaining to nesting, bar-code, shipping, design, machine monitoring can be easily integrated and start functioning in a matter of time/days.
Advanced Personalization
Reports, dashboards, analytical graphs, trends, charts are vital quick-to-refer tools in manufacturing planning and operations. Each user requires a tailored view of data depending on their roles and functions. These analytical assets can be easily personalized to suit user requirements across departments and roles.
Portals for Customers and Suppliers
The ability to provide self-service portals to customers and suppliers eases the long chain of communication that manufacturers have to do otherwise. Self-service portals enable suppliers and customers to access crucial information related to products, sales & purchase orders, shipment, status, invoicing etc. This eliminates calling up the manufacturing facility repeatedly and asking for order/shipment status or raise sales orders.
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced manufacturers to look for advanced ERP solutions that enable their personnel to access the software from home, build tools, customize with minimal coding and improve productivity. All these features have been in existence since a while now. It was just that manufacturers were used to a certain way of working and that included legacy or conventional ERP systems. It took a pandemic to change their outlook towards technologically advanced ERP systems and digital features. Nevertheless, it has helped them to function during the lock down and prevent shutdown unlike their peers.
OmegaCube ERP is an advanced Enterprise-class ERP solution for manufacturers and distributors. It can be hosted on cloud (public/private) or on-premises. It is a browser-run ERP that can be accessed from any supported browser and from any hand-held device. OmegaCube ERP enables customization with minimal coding along with selective customization. It can be easily integrated with host of third-party manufacturing applications.
Contact our ERP experts to know more about the capabilities of OmegaCube ERP.
